Keeping my girl occupied

This blog was supposed to be posted last night ...

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I think I have a 'bored' kid in the house and I'm the one to be blamed for it. :) Before Lyle was born, all my attention would be with Tricia, we would play together, do some coloring, writing and other activities. But after the birth of my 2nd baby, things have changed. My 100% attention for her has only become like maybe 40%?? And I ended up just letting her watch cartoons ( not good!) while I take care of Lyle and do other things ( not to mention, internet..hehehe!). Sometimes, she goes with her Appa in the office which is good since there's a lot of toys in the children's room and there is this volunteer who likes her so much and really is so patient spending time with her and playing with her. But most days, she's just in the house looking bored (pity her!) .

It was just yesterday that I just realized that she must be so bored in the house. I saw her daydreaming and staring blankly on the wall. When she's not daydreaming then she plays and talks to herself, imagining Mowgli or Alladin with her. So, finally I decided that I need to keep her occupied again and let her do some activities. And today is the 1st day for such..:) Even if it entails more work for me since I'd be juggling between the 2 kids, but it's for the good of my daughter and maybe me as having a bored kid in the house isn't easy to take care too.

So, DAy 1 is baking day! After her short nap I told her she's going to help me bake some brownies. And immediatly her eyes widened and said, " I like that, Amma!"..then on the way to the kitchen she was hopping and said, "I'm so excited!".

Good thing I still have some cake ingredients left and even the butter was barely enough. So, I tried the Brownie Recipe from Hershey's kitchen. When we were baking she said, "Thank you amma for letting me help you". Hmmmm...so sweet of her and made me want to do more for her. Then, I just prepared all the ingredients and let her do the pouring and mixing. She was quite good in following instructions but...as curious as she is, as soon I turned my back from her she would do all the other 'illegal' things like licking the cake mixture and experimenting on her own. Hmmm,, have to always keep watch as things get messy real quick when she's on the 'loose'.

After we mixed all the ingredients together and put the brownie batter in the oven, she also helped me clean up and wipe the table. Hope she'll be this helpful even when she grows up. Then,we waited for the brownie to be baked but she was just so excited to see 'her' work that she asked me every 2 minutes, "Is the cake, finished already?", "Is the cake finished, already?", " Is the cake finished already?" Arrghh...help!!

Tricia bringing the used bowl and utensils to the kitchen.

Yes, she can wipe the table nowntoo. This isn't 'illegal' child labor, ok? :)

Frosting time!.As if she really knows what she's doing..

Eating time!

Our brownies...

looks yum but I think my sister's brownie recipe still taste better.

So, there goes my DAy 1 Activity for her. Tomorrow we will all be in the office for a meeting so, it'll give me a chance to do some lessons for her (when Lyle is asleep) as there are a lot of kids' materials available there.

So, I already planned out activities for her in the future. Next week, she'll have formal classes (twice a week) with Teacher Junjun. Then, we're trying to check out the cost of gymnastic classes at the public stadium (yeah, gymnastics, she just loves it! all the jumping, rolling and etc). Last year, we heard it only costs about 300-500 baht a month (unbelievable!) but she was only 2 years old then and they only accept kids from 3 onwards. She might have gymnastic classes once or twice a week. Then, I'll try to teach her piano lessons, twice a week (once she gets a small electric piano, the cheap one of course..hehehe!) . I've read at the Baby Center that once you teach the child how to play the piano as early as 3 years old, they will be good in maths and logic when they grow older. I was never good in maths even if I had piano lessons, but maybe because I was already about 9 years old (?) when I had my first lesson. Too late huh? So better try it out and start early with Tricia so, she won't be like her mom who cried in college coz she almost failed/dropped Math 11..hahaha!!embarrassing!

So, there goes the schedule to keep my 3 1/2 old girl busy. I just hope everything will turn out well; gymnastic classes will be cheap, we can get a good quality electric piano for a cheap price ( not the disposable one..I mean the one that gets broken after 1 use) and I'll have more time and motivation,( coz I can get lazy at times and just end up putting cartoons in the dvdplayer) to let her do some other activities. All the best for me and Tricia! :)